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Fun and Games

The results are out. Google announced the best of its Apps and Games for the year 2014 recently. The list seems to be somewhat similar to the ‘best of 2014’ list released by Apple earlier this month. Coming to the games, Candy Crush continues to be the most sought after games. It was the most downloaded game of the year. The tech giant has put apps into a number of categories. The categories include mobile photography, education, social, health and fitness etc. As per the list released by Google, ‘Health and Fitness’ is growing real fast in the apps category as a result of which, the developers are speeding up the process of making the apps compatible with Google’s Android Wear line of smart watches.

What’s the most downloaded?

The most downloaded Google apps by category are Duolingo in the education category, MyFitnessPal in the health and fitness category, Pandora in the music category, Flipagram in the photography category, Facebook in the social category, Netflix in the entertainment category, NFL Mobile in the sports category and TripAdvisor in the travel category, Health and Fitness falls into the year’s fastest growing app category.

The most downloaded Google games are ‘Candy Crush Saga’, Don’t Tap the White Tile’, ‘Farm Heroes Saga’, ‘Subway Surfers’ and ‘Clash of Clans’. In the Achievements category, Google play games users unlocked 3.5 billion achievements in this year.

Google has good news for all the Android users. The Android users can now find the top-rated apps of the year on the Google Play Store. The Google Play has a section called ‘The Best Apps of 2014’. This section features a total of 64 apps that include popular apps like Shazam, Uber, TuneIn Radio, Skype Qik, Group Video Chat and Secret. However, only a few apps among these 64 apps can be downloaded free of cost. Some of the paid apps are Ultimate Guitar Tabs & Chords, Facetune, Afterlight, Amazing World Atlas, 7 Minute Workout Challenge, djay2 and Over.

Compared to last year, the number of Google games that have been downloaded has exceeded the number of Google apps that were downloaded by about sixty percent as per the q3 results in 2014. The popularity of Google games has contributed to a good growth in revenues in the third quarter of the year 2014. Looking at the popularity of the games and apps, it is expected that Google would very soon announce few more Android apps and games that would be compatible with Chrome OS. It is easy to hire an iPhone developer or an Android developer today and making useful and quality applications are so much easier today.

Maybe you’ve heard that playing video games will rot your brain or lead to other negative consequences. While sitting in front of the screen for hours a day may take time away from other positive activities, the mental stimulation of game playing has proven benefits. Action games, fighting games and other fast-paced adventures can actually help your brain.

Studies have shown that playing action games can improve sharpness of vision, accuracy, alertness and response times. One study showed that gamers made accurate decisions 25% more quickly than those who don’t play. Oddly enough, fighting games and shooters have demonstrated more positive effects than strategy based games. The fast action provides a high level of stimulation that keeps the brain active and engaged. The ability to focus on a task at hand while ignoring distractions is enhanced by playing these types of games.

It has long been known that puzzles and games are good for aging individuals, with the benefits of improving mental fitness and reducing the cognitive decline of old age. Contrary to popular opinion, research suggests that video action games may be more effective than the old-fashioned crossword puzzle or card game. Maybe it’s time to pit Grandma and Grandpa against each other in a fighting game!

Gamers will be happy to hear that these effects increase with the amount of gaming. That is, the more time you spend playing video games, the more of these benefits you will see. Of course, it is still important to act with moderation. Too much time in the virtual world can result in neglecting things like work, school, family or physical activity.

So, do you need to drop hundreds of dollars on expensive game consoles or computer software? That is certainly an option. However, as the old saying goes, sometimes the best things are free. Gamers today have more options than ever before, and many of them won’t cost you a penny. From apps on your mobile phone to social networks and browser based Flash, HTML5 or JavaScript games, there are plenty of free options.

Remember, to realize the most benefits of brain boosting gaming, you’ll want to opt for fast-paced adventure and fighting games. Now that online games are sophisticated enough to rival traditional console, arcade and PC software games, it’s easy to find websites that let you play directly from a web browser. In fact, there are dozens of great free games available to you right now.

After purchasing a new Android device, whether it is a tablet or a smartphone, we then turn to the marketplace in search of the best Android games and apps. There are numerous on-line directories available that have very comprehensive lists, some better than others. Generally these lists are divided into sections, for instance, the most popular, the hottest, the top rated, plus there are also lots of reviews to browse through for the best Android games and the best Android apps.

For those who are after Android applications, there are screenshots and quite often short videos illustrating how these apps or games work. These can be found in the arcade and action section and if you are looking for the best Android apps, these can be used for productivity, communication or entertainment purposes. Many other categories are available, from where you can choose applications or games that fulfill your needs.

Of course there are large numbers of new games and apps coming out into the marketplace every day. Some of these are free and for some, there is a small charge. The best Android games or apps can be either, if a game or app is free it does not imply any lesser quality, in many instances the opposite can be true. Most of the free apps have ads displayed and are they are usually unobtrusive, but sometimes, ads can be really annoying by blocking important content from the game or because they are placed in a position where you can touch accidentally.

Almost every Android application list website lets you subscribe to the RSS feed to get the latest updates so you’ll be the first who knows when a new app is available. Each application has a detailed description, from ratings and comments to required system permissions, screenshots or a direct QR bar code or market link for direct downloading from your phone.

As well as finding internet reviews for the best games and apps, quite often we will find out about a game or an app from a friend or colleague. Personal recommendations or reviews are always highly influential. Different groups and ages of people will be interested in different things, but there are enough of the best games and apps out there, to meet everyone’s needs.

If one particular app or game does not suit or does not perform as expected, it’s a simple process, just like programs on a laptop, to delete the game or app from one’s device. Android OS is designed in such ways that require minimal resources on the device, so it is possible to have numerous games and apps running on the one device.